Coroners: Neonatal Mortality

(asked on 6th July 2015) - View Source
Questioner
Chris Heaton-Harris Portrait
Chris Heaton-Harris
(Conservative - Daventry)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Chief Coroner is planning to take to improve consistency and good practice in relation to neonatal deaths.

Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 14th July 2015

The Chief Coroner is working towards improving consistency across coroner areas in England and Wales by providing written advice and guidance to coroners amongst other matters. He will consider in due course whether to issue guidance on good practice in relation to neonatal deaths to all coroners.

The number of coroner areas with stillborn inquest conclusions recorded from 2009 to 2014 is published in the department's annual coroner statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/427440/coroners-statistics-2014-csv.csv.

Coroner areas with stillborn inquest conclusions recorded: 2009-2014

Coroner Area

Number of stillborn inquest conclusions

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Avon

-

-

3

1

-

-

Birmingham and Solihull

-

-

3

1

-

-

Black Country

-

-

3

-

-

-

Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley

-

1

-

-

1

-

Brighton and Hove

-

-

1

1

-

-

Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan

-

-

-

-

-

1

Central Hampshire

-

-

-

-

1

-

Cheshire

1

-

-

-

-

-

Cornwall

-

1

1

-

-

-

Coventry

-

-

-

-

1

-

Darlington and South Durham1

-

1

-

-

..

..

East Riding and Hull

1

-

-

-

-

1

Gwent

-

1

-

-

-

-

Inner North London

-

-

-

-

3

-

Leicester City and South Leicestershire

-

-

-

1

-

-

Liverpool

-

-

-

2

3

-

Manchester City

-

-

1

1

1

1

Manchester North

-

-

-

-

-

1

Milton Keynes

-

-

1

1

-

-

North and West Cumbria

1

-

-

-

-

-

North Durham1

1

-

-

1

..

..

North East Kent

-

1

-

-

-

-

North London

-

2

-

-

-

-

Plymouth and South West Devon2

1

-

-

-

..

..

Preston and West Lancashire

-

-

-

1

1

-

South and East Cumbria

1

-

-

-

-

-

South London

-

-

-

-

-

1

Southampton and New Forest

-

-

-

-

1

-

Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire

-

1

1

-

-

-

Suffolk

-

-

-

1

-

-

Swansea and Neath Port Talbot3

..

..

..

..

-

1

Wolverhampton4

1

-

-

..

..

..

Source:

Coroner's annual returns

Notes:

1. Amalgamated with "North Durham" in 2012, now known as "County Durham and Darlington"

2. Amalgamated with "Torbay and South Devon" in 2013, now known as "Plymouth, Torbay and South Devon"

3. Amalgamation of "Neath and Port Talbot" and "City and County of Swansea" in 2013

4. Amalgamated with "Black Country" in 2013, now known as "Black Country"

.. = No Data Available

- = Nil

Data can be found on CSV files accompanying the Coroners Statistics publication https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/427440/coroners-statistics-2014-csv.csv

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